Springfield Falcons shut out Hershey Bears for the first time ... ever

The Falcons' Curtis McElhinney became the first goalie in franchise history to record six shutouts in a season.David Molnar | The Republican

By DAVE SOTTILE

HERSHEY, Pa. – Coach Brad Larsen spent 48 hours preaching focus as his Springfield Falcons prepared for their final game before the AHL’s Christmas break. Saturday night at Giant Center, his team came through in historic fashion.

Curtis McElhinney stopped 19 shots for his sixth shutout and Matt Calvert’s short-handed goal with 1:36 left in the first period stood up for a 1-0 victory over the Hershey Bears.

The Falcons had never blanked the Bears in 41 previous meetings, and McElhinney became the first goalie in franchise history with half a dozen shutouts in a season – all before the calendar flips over.

“We were harping on focus the last two days, because our last practice before we came down here was really poor,” Larsen said. “I (stopped it) after 16 minutes, and I’ve never done that before.

“But we came down here, got focused and I loved our energy today. We left it on the ice because now they have three days off.”

Springfield (16-6-2-3, 37 points) won despite failing to score on nine power-play chances, but the game’s only goal came on a Hershey power play.

Calvert got a piece of Garrett Stafford’s attempted pass at center ice. The loose puck bounced off linesman Jud Ritter and came back to Calvert, who soloed in on Bears goalie Braden Holtby and tucked home a shot at 18:26. His eighth goal was his first short-handed and the Falcons’ fifth.

“I liked a lot of our power plays,” Larsen said. “Not every one was pretty, but we had six shots on the last one and that Holtby is a very good goalie. You’ve got to beat him with a great play, and we beat him short-handed with a great move.”

McElhinney and the Falcons defense did the rest. The Bears failed to score on five power-play chances.

“I felt like tonight was a very strong defensive effort on our part,” Larsen said. “I bet we didn’t give up 10 good scoring chances. You ask your goalie to stop less than 10 good scoring chances a game, a goalie’s going to love it. Mac has been very solid for us all year.”

Saturday’s win was just what the team needed heading into the Christmas mini-vacation. The Falcons don’t play again until Dec. 27, when the Albany Devils visit the MassMutual Center.

“We were looking for one big game before we went into our little break, and we got the result we were looking for,” McElhinney said.

Asked about the historic shutout and his tremendous first half so far, the veteran goalie said: “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation like this before. I think it speaks for the defense, only giving up 19 shots tonight. When they’re doing things like that, they’re going to make me look good.”

NOTES: Springfield right wing Cam Atkinson’s nine-game point streak came to an end. He had seven goals and seven assists in that span ... Falcons defenseman John Moore was sidelined for the third straight game with an undisclosed injury. Defenseman Greg Amadio, right wing Cody Bass and defenseman Cody Goloubef also sat out with injuries. Center Jake Hansen, left wing Chris Collins, left wing Tim Spencer, defenseman Patrick Cullity and left wing Wade MacLeod were healthy scratches ... Hershey has too many veterans on its roster, so former Boston Bruins center Zach Hamill (17 points) was a healthy scratch, even though he entered the game tied for third in Bears’ scoring ... The Bears (14-13-1-1, 30 points) had won three of their previous four games.